I Made You A Mixtape: 20 Songs Released 20 Years Ago

Today we make playlists. Mostly for ourselves, and while the concept of a “mixtape” isn’t yet dead, it certainly has picked out a plot in the cemetery. We just don’t need to make them anymore, for our friends or a girl. Personally, most of my mixtapes were honestly just me holding a recorder to the radio when songs played so that I could “own” my favorite songs. Then I got suckered into the Columbia House situation, and while that turned into a tumultuous relationship it did give me access to a lot of fantastic records.

1994 might be one of the greatest years in music history, and I say that with the knowledge of my age. I was in the prime early music listening years at the time. Fifteen years old, walking home with my first Walkman, complete with a “no skip” feature that worked enough for me to only have to reset an album every few blocks.

It was the year Kurt Cobain died, but also the year Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged album released and changed my world. Pearl Jam released Vitalogy, Biggie Smalls was alive and ruling rap, Under the Pink introduced me to not only Tori Amos, but also Trent Reznor. It was the year that Garth Brooks was bigger than anything, ever. While they would go on to do more noteworthy things, 1994 was the year that the world met the likes of Cake, blink-182, and Korn.

So, my dear friends I have made you a pseudo mixtape. To learn, to enjoy, heck to even lose your mind to. These aren’t the best songs of 1994, we all know that All-4-One had that honor with “I Swear.” Some are timeless classics, but many are icons held in the bubble of time that is the 90s.

This is what you need to know about 1994.

In 1994 we wanted sex

1. “Welcome To Paradise,” Green Day’s Dookie.

Sometimes loving yourself is oh so right.

2. “Closer,” Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral

Wild animal sex.

3. “Waterfalls,” TLC’s crazysexycool

But if we do SEX, then we should be safe. 90s pop culture said so, a lot.

4. “I’ll Make Love To You,” Boys II Men’s II

Who needs subtlety and nuance? I’ll hold you close, all through the night while we bang.